Care New England and Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island marked another milestone in their proposed new partnership with the filing of the Affiliation Agreement and required applications with the Rhode Island Department of Health, the RI Attorney General’s Office and the Federal Trade Commission.

The state hospital conversion applications have been submitted for consideration under the new Expedited Review Process, which makes special provisions for hospitals that are deemed financially distressed-MHRI meets the criteria.

Not only is the new partnership important for the financial health of Memorial Hospital, it also will enable both institutions to develop a fuller continuum of care and reach a broader patient population. In joining Care New England, Memorial brings to the system its strong academic and clinical programs in primary care including family and internal medicine.

“Health care reform will move the focus from hospital based, episodic care to population wellness,” said Dennis D. Keefe, President and CEO of Care New England. “The goals of this proposed affiliation are to: elevate the overall health of the community, improve the individual patient experience, and bring down the cost of care. This is the so-called triple aim, and it is the essence of health care reform.”

CNE and MHRI anticipate the new partnership will help prepare both institutions for the new health care environment.

Benefits include:

• Development of an integrated delivery system in which patient care is coordinated across the full continuum of care for population health management
• Continuous improvement of quality of clinical programs and services
• Clinical excellence demonstrated by comprehensive and consistent quality across a range of services and procedures throughout the combined CNE system
• Patient access to a broader continuum of services over an expanded service area
• Programmatic development of signature service lines, including women's health, behavioral health, primary care, and home health
• Maintenance of the strong academic and research platform that is essential to fostering clinical excellence and innovation
• Enhancement of physician recruitment, retention and integration initiatives
• Improvement of facilities, technology and information technology platforms
• Achievement of "employer of choice" status
• Continued responsible stewardship of charitable assets
• Operational efficiencies to improve performance and reduce costs

In this latter area, CNE and MHRI will be working with particular care and attention to preserve the missions and services that the community has come to expect from both organizations.

“There may be different configurations and new settings for some programs,” said Arthur DeBlois, III, Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island Interim President and CEO. “This is inevitable as we work to improve performance, increase efficiency and reduce cost. It is our hope that all of these efforts will be undertaken with an eye toward freeing resources to offer the best possible care to our community.”

About Care New England

Care New England, located in Rhode Island, was founded in 1996 by Butler Hospital, Kent Hospital and Women & Infants Hospital. Care New England is an integrated health care system that offers a continuum of quality care. The system includes primary care and specialty physicians; two teaching hospitals affiliated with Brown Medical School, Butler and Women & Infants; a community hospital, Kent; a visiting nurse and home care agency, the VNA of Care New England; and Care New England Wellness Center. For more information, visit carenewengland.org.

About Memorial

Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island is a 294-bed teaching center affiliated with The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Memorial is the chief site for the medical school’s primary care academic program. Research focuses on primary care and disease prevention, including osteoarthritis, heart disease, cancer, pulmonary function, maternal and child health and women’s health issues. Memorial provides a full spectrum of health services for the people of Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. Services include oncology, cardiology, rehabilitation, pain management, obstetrics/gynecology, pediatrics, 24-hour intensive care specialist coverage and diagnostics. Memorial offers primary care services at facilities in Pawtucket, Central Falls and Plainville, Massachusetts, and operates an adult day center, and home care program to provide a seamless system of medical care.